21, Travelling to USA, Beginning in LA, Advice Please !!

Hi, i'm 21 from England and am planning to travel the states for 2 months

i have recently booked my flights, arriving in LA on the 14th Feb, the reason i chose LA is because my friend is currently living out there and lucklily i can stay with him as long as i want.

However, i dont want to stay in LA the whole time but because my friend has a job i am not sure that he will have the time to do all the travelling that i want to do..... i dont have a problem going solo, it will be an adventure and im sure it will be easy to make friends

Sooo, where are the must places to see in the USA? - Being 21, i obviously am looking to have a good time and go out alot, but i also want to see the world, so places like the grand canyon, the national parks in california and if i get that far i would love to see niagara falls...... i am not that fussed about Florida as i did it as a kid, i have also been to NYC but a couple days there wouldn't go a miss especially now that i am 21!

What is the easiest/cheapeast ways to get around?? Trains?And where are the best place stay to meet people my sort of age.... would hostels be best?Finally, my amerian friend tells me i am going during spring break... where would be the best places to go?

Hey! I'm your same age, i've lived here my entire life, but am also starting travelling because the timing is perfect to do so. I'd have to say the easiest way to get around once in a city would be the local bus systems. I live in Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota and you can buy a bus ticket that covers two hours for about $3 tops, depending on rush hour and the like. You can use the train to get from state to state, too. Check out amtrak.com. I've used this system twice and both times it worked really well.

My highlights for the USA - Yellowstone NP, Monument Valley, ranch stays in Montana, Disneyland California just to name a few I spent 2 summers in the States first working at summer camps and then doing a bit of travelling before my visas expired. Soooo much to see I'm sure no matter how much time you spend there you could always go back and see more! I covered bigger distances by using flights or Amtrak - my Amtrak experience leaves me with mixed feelings, although maybe it was just bad luck when I was travelling with them...I also joined a camping tour with Trek America at one stage which was lots of fun and packed in heaps of sights.

Hey! i did a little traveling in the US just over a year ago and started in LA, which is great fun, we did all the obvious tourist spots!

San Fran isn't that far and was our favourite place we went on the whole trip, so i completely recommend going there for about a week, if you have the time! There is loads to do! Also Las Vegas is awesome. Although we went there from LA then Las vegas to San Fran...the latter was a 15 hour coach, which was delayed by 4 hours at 2 in the morning. not the best way round to do it. Think about travel times and you wont make our mistake! lol

Hostels are THE best way to go! they are cheaper and as long as you're not too bothered about sleeping in the same room as other people then its the easiest way to meet fellow travelers. Pretty much every night we would meet someone new and go out for a drink with them in the night or arrange to go somewhere together the next day!

We mainly traveled by Greyhound coaches, which were cheap, which is great but it isn't always the most comfortable and pleasant journey. Some times it was freezing (fierce air con) sometimes it was hot. But then again it was ok for us cuz we just stocked up on loads of food and drinks (and jumpers) then sat back and relaxed. So it suited us!

Grand canyon is a must if you can get there. amazing!

We did the Niagara falls as well, which again was amazing! But we got a flight to get there, just saved so much time for us. Don't think i would have coped with a 2 day trip on the train! lol

And i would imagine anywhere near a beach in California or Florida would be full of spring breakers! That's what they say in the films anyway... lol